Thoughts on Torah, working, living in Israel and how they go together.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Can politics in Israel sink any lower?

I haven't posted about Israeli politics in a while, here I go again.

It doesn't get any worse then this. Ehud Barak who a month ago stated that he doesn't see how Olmert can continue as PM, made a deal to allow just that.

Labor agreed late Tuesday night not to vote in favor of the bill which calls for the dissolution of the Knesset, whether it is brought to the floor on Wednesday, or any time in the coming weeks. ...According to the agreement, the Kadima party promised to convene a committee on Wednesday which would begin the process of primaries for choosing a new chairperson. On Monday of next week, the Kadima faction will discuss the results, and 10 days later the Kadima council will convene to determine an exact date for primary elections, to be held before September 25. Should a run-off election be needed as well, that, too, will be held before September 25.

What this means is that Olmert survives until at least October the beginning of the next Knesset session. Let's not forget that Olmert may very well run in the Kadima primaries and win. Then what?

This is absolutely pathetic. The Winograd commission without saying so explicitly told Olmert to go and he ignored what they said. At that point Ehud Barak said that he would work towards replacing Olmert. So far he has done nothing but help Olmert survive. Then came all the corruption investigations culminating in Talansky's infamous testimony. Again Barak made a lot of noise and again is doing nothing.

Let's look at what is going on.1. The so called "cease fire" has already started to fall apart 2. Gilad Shalit is no closer to coming home. 3. On the Northern front the deal with Hizbullah is also very controversial and may or may not happen. 4. Negotiations with Syria5. Iran...

All being done by a Prime Minister who has no moral authority, has a single digit approval rating and is spending a good part of his day fighting off the 5 corruption investigations.

The political system in Israel is absolutely bankrupt. More and more people are losing faith in the system. When all the politicians care about is keeping their seat and there is no real accountability people simply tune out and don't vote.

1 comment:

To wit: the Israelis have ceased, and the Arabs are firing. Hence, cease-fire.

Secondly, remember that government is set up to encourage the most ruthless people to reach the top. You can't make the tough decisions unless you have one hell of an ego and no conscience. So for Barak to say one thing and then do another to save his political skin is completely unsuprising.